Battle of Yales
The Battle of Yales was the decisive battle of the First Narik War. The eight-month battle resulted in 300,000 dead and 500,000 wounded, making it the bloodiest battle of the First Narik War. Preparation The Battle of Yales was the decisive battle of the First Narik war. The DA had decided that the cease-fire could not be permenant, and knew they had to strike and freetheir country. They decided to attack at the small town of Yales on the southern front, which was currently in the hands of the Narikatonites, around 5 miles from the frontline. Throughout late 3127 and early 3128, the DA began to build up on the Central Front, along a 100-mile-long line. This was noticed by the Imperial command, who realised a major attack was likely to occur, and the cease-fire would be broken. As a result, the Imperial military decided to place major defences all along the front and build up a force, in secret, to defend against any attack. By the time April arrived, nearly 500,000 DA soldiers had arrived on the central front, faced by around 500,000 Imperial troops. The battle The attack was launched on 1 April, as thousands of volunteers stormed out of their trenches and into attack, thus ending the cease-fire. However, Imperial machine guns simply cut them down. By the end of the first day, 14,000 lay dead, and almost no ground was captured. The DA continued to throw troops into the line, hoping a breakthrough would come. It didn't. By May, the attacks were called off, and nearly 125,000 DA soldiers, and 25,000 Imperial soldiers had been killed. Artillery then hit the Imperial positions on 15 May, forcing a retreat by Narik forces, allowing the first breakthrough of the battle. Darnussian fighters advanced an average of 6 miles, as well as at one point coming within 500 yards of the suburbs of Yales. This fighting lasted until July, until any hope of further advance was lost. The Darnussians by now had lost a massive 150,000 dead, as well as 55,000 Imperial killed. As July wore on into August, yet another stalemate looked to be settling in, until 5 August, when a massive Imperial counter-attack was launched. 275,000 Imperial soldiers shattered the exhausted and weary Darnussian troops, as a route developed. Between the 5 and the 10, the Darnussians lost 25 miles of ground, as the Darnussians were crushed under the Imperial steamroller charging towards them. The end of the battle The DA in desperation diverted thousands of troops from the southern and western fronts to assist the Darnussians trying to defend the central front. By the 15 August, around 145,000 Darnussians were on the central front, however, they were completely outnumbered, out-gunned and outmatched. Furthermore, this led to serious exposure on all other fronts, as attacks were launched by the Imperials to take advantage of this Darnussian weakness. The Jelbanians defending the western front began to get pushed back, as Imperial troops launched a lighting attack in the south. On the central front, the Imperial advanced had again slowed, but slowly but surely, they were now making the short but bloody push to Red Stad. This excruciatingly slow advance was kept up until around Christmas 3138, when, with Imperial forces now only 10 miles from Red Stad, the Darnussians finally completely broke and routed. The battle of Yales was over, as 300,000 soldiers lay dead on the battlefield, and a further half a million were wounded. The battle had completely destroyed the DA, as well as winding the Narikatonites. But now, the Imperial Army was only 10 miles from Red Stad, and practically unopposed. Category:Narik Wars